1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to player mechanisms for acoustic instruments, and more particularly to controlling playback characteristics of a digital MIDI based instrument.
2. Description of Related Art
Acoustic instruments having electronics which allow them to be played autonomously, such as what is often referred to as “player pianos”, typically have a dedicated control unit which receives data from a data storage unit, which is often integrated into the control unit, for controlling the notes and characteristics. The data is normally encoded in the musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) protocol which encodes a series of note signals, velocities, and optionally other information. The control unit stores important playback characteristics and provides output which is often adapted for the specific piano (or other acoustic instrument) being played. It will be appreciated that all specific characteristics of the device are handled by the traditional control unit. For example, one of the main functions of the player-specific control unit is to allow the user to adjust the playback volume of the piano.
Control units are coupled to actuator electronics in the acoustic instrument for controlling actuators during playback. One form of control unit communicates with the actuator electronics in the instrument using proprietary hardware interfaces, wherein only a specific controller from that manufacturer is compatible with the instrument.
Alternatively, the control unit may modify the incoming MIDI stream and output another digital data stream for use by the actuator electronics within the instrument. For example, one form of digital data stream sent to the instrument is generated by having the control unit modify or augment MIDI stream for sending to the actuator electronics. However, it should be appreciated that even when the actuator electronics are configured to receive a data stream, such as MIDI, modified MIDI, or augmented MIDI, doing so would circumvent velocity compensation and other adaptations performed by the control unit for improving playback on the particular instrument.
Accordingly a need exists for an apparatus and method for interfacing between a MIDI device and a control unit not having MIDI functionality.